Бесплатный фрагмент - Universe Aeternov. Book two

Universe

Aeternov

Book two:

“The Shadow that Remembers the Light.”

Andrey Yurievich Sopelnik.

Creative pseudonym: Andrey S.

Rostov-on-Don.

2025

For everyone who loves Fiction, the Russian heroes of the Universe.

THE SECOND BOOK: “THE SHADOW THAT REMEMBERS THE LIGHT.”

Chapter 1. The first. A VESSEL OF DARKNESS

“He did not betray the light. He let me in… to figure out how to heal her.”

1. THE HERO’S LAST SIGH

At the end of the first book, when the Chrono-Heart flashed with the light of hope, Knox took a step forward.

“I’ll go with her,” he said, looking at the shadow of the Chrono Shadow receding into the depths of the Black Abyss. “She’s a part of me. And if anyone has to stay with her… it’s me.

— Knox, no!” Elira shouted. “You don’t have to!”

— But I want to, — he replied. — It means that only those who know her from the inside… can find light in her.

He hugged Andrey. He nodded to Alexei. He looked at Alina and smiled:

— Take care of tomorrow.

And stepped into the portal of Darkness.

The team thought he had sacrificed himself. That his choice had allowed Absolute Evil to be put to sleep. A monument of sand and song was erected to him on the Aeternum.

But they were wrong.

Knox is not dead.

He woke up.

2. MECHANOS-9 — FORGE OF THE GOD OF DARKNESS.

He woke up on Mechanos 9, a planet where technology hates all living things.

The sky is made of rust and screams.

Cities are made of pulsating metal that feeds on pain.

Rivers are made of molten oaths.

And at the center of everything is an Iron Throne forged from a million broken Core Hearts.

And there’s a Shadow on it, older than time itself.

— Welcome home, vessel, — Absolute Evil whispered. “Did you think you were sacrificing yourself for the good?” No. You’ve matured. And now… I’m going to enter you.

Knox tries to resist. But there was always a crack in his soul, the one from which tears flowed when Elira sang him a lullaby for the first time. And through that crack… darkness entered.

3. CHILDHOOD, WHICH WAS PREPARED FOR DARKNESS.

Absolute Evil did not choose Knox by accident.

Even before he was born, in one of the first timelines, the Devouring One sowed the seed of pain in his family.

His mother died because the world didn’t have time to save her.

His father went crazy because no one heard him scream.

His village was wiped off the face of reality because it was not considered worthy of protection.

Every tear of the boy fed the Darkness.

Every night without sleep strengthened the bond.

His childish “why”? it became a prayer that was heard not by the light… but by the void.

When Knox became a Chrono-Shadow, it was the first stage of the vessel’s awakening.

When he became Knox again, the second one.

And now the third one has arrived.

4. THE BIRTH OF THE LORD OF DARKNESS.

The process lasted seven laps of time.

Knox’s body was being melted into a vessel of ancient pain and cruel will.

His eyes have become black stars in which hopes are extinguished.

His voice is the echo of all the screams that went unanswered.

His heart is an empty throne on which sits Absolute Evil.

But… not completely.

Somewhere deep, under the layers of darkness, there was a spark — the one that cried after hearing the unique lullaby. And Absolute Evil cannot destroy it.

Because she is not a part of the Darkness.

She’s Knox’s choice.

And that’s why the Devouring One didn’t kill his mind. He left him alive, as a torment for the sake of light.

Let Aeternov know that their hero sees everything that the Darkness does… but he can’t stop himself.

5. THE NEW ORDER

Now Knox is the Lord of Darkness, the second most powerful after the most Absolute Evil.

He rules Mechanos 9, Necros, Daemonium, Nocturna, Morgrad, and Chaos Prima, all six worlds of the Black Abyss.

His army is the Shadows of Fate, distorted reflections of fallen heroes.

His weapon is the Spear of Oblivion, capable of erasing not the body, but the memory of goodness.

He doesn’t scream.

He whispers.

And in this whisper, there is a conviction:

“Goodness is an illusion. Love is a weakness. Hope is a lie.”

But one night, when all the worlds are asleep, he goes to the mirror of the destroyed time… and cries black tears.

He remembers:

— how I held a flower made of light in my hands,

— as I said for the first time: “I’ve been through this,

“As I laughed with a couple on a rooftop in Chicago.

And in these moments… The darkness is trembling.

THE END OF THE CHAPTER.

Knox did not become evil.

He became a prison for evil.

And as long as he is alive, Absolute Evil cannot enter the worlds completely. Because the vessel has not yet allowed itself to be sealed.

And somewhere in the depths of his fallen soul… a little sprout is still waiting to be heard.

Chapter 2. The second one. The first world is the cradle of darkness

“He’s not an enemy. He’s calling us.”

— Alina

1. A VOICE FROM THE SHADOWS

At night, when the stars fell silent, Alina woke up from a scream — not in the room, but inside herself.

Her double chrono code, which usually rang like a bell of hope, now throbbed with black pain.

— Dad… — she whispered, clutching the crystal around her neck. “It’s not just locked. He’s ready.

At the same moment, in Ziggy’s laboratory, the “Heart of Tomorrow” began to howl — not with an engine, but with Knox’s voice, which broke into crying.

“He’s not crying in pain,” Alexei said, approaching the ship. “He’s warning you.

Elira put her hand on the hull:

“He’s singing… a lullaby.” But on the contrary. Like a birth spell.

Inna Sandran entered the hall. Her eyes were not galaxies, but a crack in time.

“Absolute Evil does not want to escape from the Abyss,” she said. “It wants to enter the cradle.”

“Which cradle?” Andrey asked.

— To the First World, — Inna replied. — To the place where the chrono code originated. The place where you saved a child… and became Chronos. To a place where goodness has not yet learned to doubt.

2. THE PLAN OF THE DEVOURING ONE.

On Mechanos 9, in an Iron Throne made of millions of broken Core Hearts, Absolute Evil whispers to Knox — not as an executioner, but as a mentor.

“Do you think I want to destroy the light?” — says the Darkness, her voice is an echo of all the maternal lullabies that once lulled the dead. — no. I want to become one.

And the Devouring One reveals his plan.

Knox’s body is an ideal vessel not for destruction, but for substitution.

He is a former villain who became a light.

His soul knows both darkness and light.

His heart is a crack between worlds.

His memory is the key to the First World.

Absolute Evil is not going to just invade the First World. It wants to be born into him — like a new Knox: pure, innocent, “saved.”

— Imagine, — the Darkness whispers, — I will enter your body… and return to the day when Elira sang you a lullaby for the first time. But this time, I won’t cry. I’ll smile. And everyone will say, “Here he is, the hero who defeated the darkness.” And I… will become darkness clothed in light.

So, the Devouring One will bypass the Chrono-Heart.

Not from the outside, but from the inside.

Not as an enemy, but as a “savior.”

3. BIRTH IN THE PAST

This requires an anchor — the moment when Knox was most vulnerable.

This is his day of atonement, when he first heard Elira’s song and cried.

Absolute Evil is planning to rewrite this moment.

It uses Knox’s body as a chrono-guide to:

1. Open a portal not to the future, but to the past, to a point where the Chrono — Heart has not yet been assembled.

2. To replace the real Knox at the moment when he stands in front of Elira, trembling in pain.

3. Take the form of a repentant hero, but without a spark of choice — without the very tear that was born not out of fear, but out of love for his mother.

Without this year, there is no spark.

Without a spark, there is no light.

And without light… the First World will accept Darkness as its child.

“Then all the timelines will be rewritten, — the Devouring One whispers. — Andrey won’t run to a child at a construction site — why save a world where goodness is an illusion? Alexey won’t give up His Core Heart — why be human if people lie even in tears? Elira will be silenced forever…

And Alina… Alina will never be born.

4. BLACK TEARS ARE THE LAST WARNING.

But in the depths of Knox’s fallen body, that spark is still alive.

Every night, when the worlds are asleep, he approaches the Mirror of the Destroyed Time, an artifact capable of showing all possible selves.

And there he sees:

• myself smiling at Elira… But without tears;

• myself hugging Andrey… but without warmth;

• myself standing on the Aeternum… but without shadows.

And then he cries black tears — not from despair, but from the betrayal he is preparing to commit.

These tears are the last signal.

They do not fall to the ground, but into the Chrono-Heart and turn into a vision for Alina.

“He didn’t betray the light,” she whispers, looking into the mirror of time. — He allows the Darkness to enter… so that we can see it being born.”

5. THE TEAM’S DECISION

— We have to stop him before he returns to the past, — says Andrey. — But how?” He is the Lord of Darkness. He rules the six worlds of the Abyss!

“No, — Alina shakes her head. “He’s waiting for us to come.” He doesn’t want the Darkness to win. He wants us to save him from himself.

Inna puts her hand on Andrey’s shoulder.

“Then we’ll go where hope hasn’t gone before,” she says. — On Mekhanos-9. To the Forge of the God of Darkness. And we’ll remind Knox.… who he really is.

“And if he doesn’t remember us anymore?” Andrey asks.

“Then we’ll remind him of his mother,” says Elira. “Her lullaby.” Her scent. Her hands.

“And if that’s not enough?” Alexey whispers.

“Then we’ll take his hand, — Alina replies, — and say, “You’re not a vessel of darkness. You’re the door she couldn’t shut.”

THE END OF THE CHAPTER.

On the edge of the Aeterna, the “Heart of Tomorrow” is preparing to leap — not through hope, but through sacrifice.

The ship doesn’t sing.

He prays.

For the first time, the heroes are not flying to save worlds…

but to save someone who has already become their prison and their friend.

And somewhere in the depths of Mechanos-9, Knox looks into the Mirror of the Destroyed Time and whispers:

— Wait for me. I’m still here. As long as you remember, I’m alive.

Chapter 3. The third. A CLOCK MADE OF ASHES

“Time does not choose heroes.

It chooses those who are not afraid to be human, even in hell.”

1. A DREAM THAT IS NOT A DREAM.

Andrey did not sleep. He failed.

Not in a dream. Not as a memory. And into the rift, a thin crack between worlds where time does not flow, but groans.

It was cold, and there was the smell of coal, burning, and sweat.

The sounds are kayla’s thuds, screeching, coughing, and muffled fear.

The light is just a dim lantern on his forehead, trembling like a last hope.

He’s not in his body. He is an observer: invisible, disembodied… but feeling everything.

And he knows: it’s 1943. Mines near Rostov. The depth is three hundred meters. There is a war on the surface. And there is another war below: with darkness, with fatigue, with the thought: “Why go upstairs if there is death there?

“And then he sees him.

A young guy about sixteen years old. He was thin, with a face chiseled by hunger and stubbornness. On the chest is a battered tunic with a faded star. In the eyes is not the absence of fear, but stubborn faith.

This is his grandfather. Andrey Semenovich Chronosynthesis.

The one who once said,

“The clock is not ticking… but they remember every second when you were happy.”

2. THE CLOCK IN THE DARK.

The shift is in full swing. Grandfather digs in a narrow hole, where even breathing is painful.

Suddenly — a landslide.

Small, but enough to block up the passage.

He remains alone. The lantern flickers. Oxygen is running out.

In a panic, in the dark, the hand gropes for something hard under a layer of coal.

He pulls out his watch.

Not simple. The case is made of a strange metal, warm, as if alive. The glass is cracked, but not broken. The hands froze at 3:33.

And at that moment, there was a flash.

No light. Memory.

Grandfather sees:

• a boy in the garden, planting a flower for his sick mother;

• a young man who swears to protect his native village;

• the old man who gives this watch to the woman with the galaxy eyes;

And… himself, standing here in the mine, with blood and coal dust on his hands.

He doesn’t understand what’s going on. But he feels: This is not a godsend.

This is the message.

From the future. From someone who hasn’t been born yet… but already remembers him.

3. A VOICE FROM THE FUTURE

Andrey, the observer, tries to shout. But he’s a shadow. He can’t interfere.

And then the clock “wakes up”.

From their mechanism, through a crack in the glass, comes a small voice — his own voice, but from the future.:

“Grandfather… it’s me.” Andrey. You don’t have to die here. This watch is not just time. They are the source of the Chrono-Heart. And they were waiting for you… to pass them on. Through the war. Through the pain. Decades later. One day… I will save the world — with your hands.

Grandfather freezes. Tears roll down his face, mixing with coal dust.

He’s not going crazy.

He believes.

Because there is love in that voice. The one that is stronger than death.

He hides the watch under his shirt, right to his heart.

And he starts digging.

4. THE AWAKENING

Andrey abruptly opens his eyes.

He’s lying in the cabin of the Heart of Tomorrow. His watch is on his chest. And now they’re ticking forward.

Alina stands at the head of the bed. Her eyes are full of tears.

“You saw him, didn’t you?” she whispers. “I saw him find them… in hell.”

— Yes, — Andrei croaks, sitting up. — He did not know that he was holding a weapon in his hands against Absolute Evil. He was thinking… that it’s just a watch.

“But it’s more than a weapon,” says Alina. “It’s a connection. The watch is an anchor that binds the Chrono — Heart to the human world. Without them, evil can be born in the First World, and no one will notice.

— Why 1943? Andrey asks.

“So, then the whole hope of the world hung in the balance, — Alina replies. — It is at such moments that the purest spark of light arises. And it’s her… that Absolute Evil wants to replace.

5. THE PLAN OF DARKNESS IS REVEALED.

At this moment, the “Heart of Tomorrow” flashes with alarm.

Ziggy bursts into the cabin, holding a holographic time map in his hands.

— Andrey! We found his way! Absolute Evil does not want to destroy the First World. It wants to be born into him — like a new Knox, but without tears. Without a choice. Without pain.

“For this, he needs a moment of absolute purity,” he continues, “to flow into him like water into water.

“Such a moment is the birth of the chrono code,” Inna says, following Ziggy in. — When did you rush to the child in 1978, Andrey? … You didn’t just save a life. You created the spark from which all the goodness of the Aeternians grew.

“And if the Darkness enters at that moment,” Alina whispers, “it won’t kill you.” She will become you. And tell the world: “I am a hero. Trust me.”

“But she doesn’t have a body, — Alexei objects.

— Yes,” a voice says from the doorway.

Knox is standing in the doorway. His eyes are black stars, but there is pain in those stars.

“My body,” he says. — It is an ideal guide. Because I was the darkness and became the light. And the Darkness… wants to cancel this path.

6. THE SOLUTION

Andrey gets up. He picks up his grandfather’s watch. He clutches them to his chest.

“Then we won’t give her a chance, — he says softly. “We’re going back to 1978. Not as saviors. And as witnesses.

— But how?” Ziggy objects. “If we interfere, we’ll break the line!”

“We won’t interfere, — Alina replies. “We’ll just be there.” Because at that moment… I have to be born.

Everyone freezes.

“You?” Andrey will ask again.

— Yes, Dad. In 1978, in Rostov, at the very moment when you were saving a child… Inna’s mother was watching you from the shadows. And that’s when… my chrono code began to form. I didn’t come from the future. I am the fruit of that choice.

— So… — Andrey looks at his daughter, — you are not just a hope. You are proof that good is possible.

“Exactly, — Alina smiles. — And if the Darkness tries to enter at that moment… I’ll meet her. Not as a warrior. It’s like a daughter who remembers her father.

THE END OF THE CHAPTER.

At the edge of the Aeterna, the “Heart of Tomorrow” is preparing to jump — not into space, but into the very heart of time.

The ship doesn’t sing.

He prays.

For the first time, the heroes are not flying to save worlds…

but to protect a single moment

when one person chose the good and changed everything.

And somewhere in the depths of Mechanos-9, Knox looks into the Mirror of the Destroyed Time and whispers:

— Wait for me, Andrey. I will not come as Darkness. I’ll come as a warning.

Chapter 4. The fourth. STUDENT LIGHT

“We didn’t know we were going to become a legend.

We just believed that the world could be made kinder.

And that was enough.”

1. JUMP INTO THE PAST

After the team collected the “Seed of Eternity”, the “Heart of Tomorrow” did not fly forward.

It looked back.

“Why are we here?” Alexey asked, looking at the streets of Rostov-on-Don, bathed in the sun in August 1995.

There are cracks on the asphalt from the heat.

There is a smell of fried seeds, dust and the first tomatoes in the air.

From the open windows comes the band “Cinema” — the song “A star named the Sun”.

“Because the Chrono — Heart is looking for the beginning of a connection,” Alina said, leaning against a lamppost with peeling paint. — Not 1978. Not 1943. And 1995. The year you first gathered… not as heroes, but as students with dreams.

Inna came closer, her eyes were not galaxies, just warm, sunny ones.

“We didn’t know then that our paths would be intertwined forever, — she said softly. “But the universe already knew.

2. INSTITUTE OF RAILWAY WORKERS — FACULTY OF DREAMERS.

Andrey Khronosynthez is a third — year student at the Rostov Institute of Railway Transport.

Specialty: “Road construction machinery, DSM”.

In fact, he fixes everything.:

from semaphores to dorm showers.

His dream is not to become a road boss, but to make sure that trains carry not only goods… but also hope.

There are two people in his group whom he has become friends with since his first philosophy seminar.:

Vladimir is Long and thin as a reed, with glasses on the tip of his nose and a notebook filled with formulas that look like poetry. He believes that knowledge is seeds: plant them at the right time and the forest of the future will grow. His dream is to open a university where science and kindness go hand in hand.

Vladimir is a Big Kind Man — tall, broad-shouldered, with a loud, kind laugh and hands that can lift the railing along with the flight of stairs. He is the grandson of a blacksmith from the Don, with fire and steel in his blood. He dreams of a world in which no one will be left alone at a broken trough.

The three of them are “The Three Vladimirs” (although one of them is Andrey, but the joke stuck).

They read Brodsky under the bridge, argue about the future on the roof of the dorm, and every Friday they go to Dumpling House No. 1, where they have long been known by their first names.

3. THE LOVE THAT STARTS WITH A TICKET.

Inna Sandran studies at the same institute, but at a different faculty: Economics and Logistics of Transport.

She is not from Rostov — from a small town near Kamensk, Rostov region, Russia.

She is smart and reserved, but there is a fire in her eyes that is just waiting for its spark.

They meet on the train.

Andrey is a couple of hours late. Inna is sitting by the window and reading “The Master and Margarita”.

He fits, crumples:

— I’m sorry… I still have a ticket to Rostov-Glavny at home. Can you borrow yours? I’ll return it later.

She looks up, looks at him intently, as if she sees right through him.

“Take it, — she says calmly, and holds out the ticket.

— why? — He’s surprised. “You don’t even know who I am.” What if I’m lying?

“ — You’re not lying,” she says. “You’re just in a hurry.” To save someone. I can see that.

He laughs. She is too.

The train enters the tunnel, and for a second everything is lost in darkness.

When the light returns, both already know that

this is the beginning of something more.

4. ALEXEY IS A SOLDIER OF PEACE.

Alexey studies at the Don State University, Faculty of Physics and Mathematics.

A former conscript. He returned from the Caucasus with a medal… and a scar on his soul.

He doesn’t talk about the war.

He fixes old alarm clocks at night so that someone can wake up in peace again.

They get to know Andrey at the interuniversity Olympiad in mechanics.

Andrey solves the problem by intuition.

Alexey — by all the rules, through hard calculations.

They argue until they are hoarse, proving each other right… and then they go to the Coffee Grinder for tea and there they discuss how to arrange peace so that war is never needed again.

“You’re too kind for an engineer,” Alexey says.

“And you’re too kind for a soldier, — Andrei replies.

They’re laughing.

And in this laughter, the first sprout of a future solution is born.

5. DREAMS ON THE ROOF

One night, in June 1995, they all gather on the roof of the dormitory of the Institute of Railway Workers.

• Andrey — with his grandfather’s guitar.

• Vladimir Long — with a notebook.

• Vladimir the Big Kind — hearted — with a thermos of tea.

• Inna — with a blanket.

• Alexey — with a notebook on astrophysics.

They look at the stars and dream.

“I want everyone who raises their head to the sky to know that their dream is not stupidity,” says Vladimir Long.

“I want fire to forge bridges, not swords,” says the Big, Kind Man.

“I don’t want machines to replace people… but to help them stay human, — Alexey says quietly.

— And I… — Inna hugs the plaid, — I want to see all the ways and choose those where no one cries alone.

— And I, — Andrey smiles, — I want tomorrow to be better than today. Just because we decided to do it together.

At this moment, the Chrono-Heart pulsates for the first time.

Not in Aeternov, but in their breasts.

They don’t hear him.

But the universe is already celebrating: something has begun.

6. RETURN TO THE PRESENT

“We didn’t know then that we would become Avatars of Light,” says Andrey, standing in 1995 as a mature Chronos, next to his young friends. “We were just people.

“But that’s exactly where the power lies, — Alina replies. “It’s not that you’re the chosen ones. The point is that you chose each other even before the world demanded a feat from you.

Inna takes Andrey’s hand.

— Do you think I fell in love with the hero? “What is it?” she asks softly. — no. I fell in love with the student who gave the last piece of bread to the mutt at the train station. It is he who… saves the universe.

At this moment, the “Heart of Tomorrow” gently calls them back.

But before leaving, Alina approaches herself, a little girl of about five playing in the yard with a stuffed dog.

She bends down and whispers:

“You’ll do everything right. Dad won’t leave you. He just… chooses a world where you can be born again.

The girl looks at her and smiles as if she recognizes her.

THE END OF THE CHAPTER.

The crew returns to the ship.

The ship sings softly, the same melody that sounded on the roof in 1995.

“Now I understand,” Knox says without a trace in his voice for the first time in a long time. — You have not defeated the Darkness by force. You defeated her… with friendship.

— Yes, — Andrey smiles. — Because evil doesn’t know what to do with those who laugh under the same sky.

And somewhere in the depths of Mechanos-9, Knox takes a step forward… not as the Lord of Darkness, but as the same student who also once dreamed of a bright future.

Chapter 5. The fifth. THE ORIGINS OF THE SHADOW

“We thought that the Darkness came from outside.

But she was born in a place where no one heard the baby crying.”

1. THE VISION FROM THE CRACK.

After the team returned from 1995, the “Heart of Tomorrow” suddenly went quiet.

It didn’t break.

Not tired.

But it was hiding, as if it had seen something.

“What’s going on?” Andrey asked, putting his palm on the case.

The ship responded not with a voice, but with a memory.

Not to everyone individually.

Everyone at once.

The characters simultaneously fell into the chrono gap, a place between the lines where time does not flow, but groans with loss.

And there they saw her.

Not Alina.

And the Chrono Shadow is in its original form.

A tall figure with blurred features, wearing a cloak made of ashes and a broken watch. The eyes are empty, but Knox is reflected in their depths.

“Is that… him?” Elira whispered.

— No, — Alina replied, trembling. “That’s who he was… until no one loved him.”

2. THE BIRTH OF THE SHADOW.

The vision unfolded.

Before Aeternov.

See you with the team.

Young Knox is neither a hero nor a villain. A lost boy whose village was wiped off the map because it “had no strategic value.” His mother died in the fire, screaming, “Someone help!”

No one came.

He survived. But the soul was not healed.

It’s festering.

Years later, as an adult, he learns about the Chrono-Heart. And he thinks,

“If time can be stopped… maybe I can bring her back”?

He doesn’t want power.

He wants a mom.

But the Sand of Time does not obey. Then he begins to tear the fabric of reality, trying to get closer to the moment before the fire.

And the second he tears out a piece of time, a Shadow bursts out of a wound in the fabric of the world.

Not An Absolute Evil.

And his pain, taking shape.

The Chrono-Shadow is not born out of malice.

She is born out of desperation.

“I’m not a villain, — Knox whispers in the vision, looking at his reflection in the mirror of cracked time. “I’m just… too lonely.”

And at that moment, the Shadow embraces him.

Not to destroy it.

But to become one.

3. THE FIRST MEETING

The vision is changing.

The team sees the first meeting — what happened in the first Book, when they were not yet united.

Andrey is Odin, the newly awakened Chronos.

Alexey is a soldier who lost his daughter.

Elira is a singer who is afraid of her own voice.

Inna is a ruler who sees all the ways, but does not know which one to choose.

And in front of them is Knox in the guise of a Chrono Shadow.

He doesn’t attack.

He says:

“Do you think I want to destroy the world?” No. I want my world back. And if it can’t be returned… let no one be happy. Because this happiness is a lie for those who have lost everything.

Andrey doesn’t understand then. He tries to separate the Darkness and Knox with a sword.

But the blade cuts through the Shadow — and cuts his own childhood memory.

Elira sings. Her voice flies to the Shadow… and is reflected, erasing the name of her first teacher.

“She’s not an enemy, — Inna whispers then. “She’s a wound. And a wound cannot be killed. It can only be healed.

But no one knows how yet.

Until one day Elira remembers:

“Everyone who cries in the dark… had a mother who once sang a lullaby.”

4. THE TRUTH ABOUT KNOX

The vision ends.

The crew returns to the ship. There are tears in everyone’s eyes.

“So, he was always a Shadow?” Alexey asks quietly.

“No, — Alina shakes her head. “He gave birth to a Shadow… but he didn’t become one. He continues to carry her around in order to understand her pain. And that is why Absolute Evil cannot possess him completely. Because Knox remembers where she came from.

“He didn’t betray us,” says Andrey, clutching his watch in his hands like fragments of the past. “He accepted it. How a father accepts a sick son.

— And now… — Inna whispers, — Absolute Evil wants to use his body to be born in the First World… as a new Knox, but without tears. Without pain. Without a choice.

“Then we have to stop this, — Elira says firmly. “Not as warriors. And those who remember his mother.

5. THE SOLUTION

The team gathers in the ship’s control center.

“We are flying to 1978,” says Andrey. “Not to change the past. And to protect the moment when I chose the child… and when Knox first felt that good was possible.

— And if the Darkness is already there? Ziggy asks.

“Then we’ll remind her,” Alina smiles, “that even the Shadow had a mother. And her lullaby… has not been forgotten yet.

The “Heart of Tomorrow” lights up with a soft light. Not military, but domestic.

Because this time they’re not going to war.

They fly to save the one who once created a Shadow… so that they can heal it.

Chapter 6. The sixth. THE SCHOOL OF THOSE WHO CHOOSE THE LIGHT

“They didn’t teach her how to be a warrior.

They taught her to be human, even in battle.”

1. AN INVITATION FROM THE STARS.

Alina stood at the edge of the Aeternum, holding in her hands a letter made of light and sand.

It didn’t arrive in the mail.

It grew out of her own chrono-code, like a flower from a crack in time.

“Alina Chronosandran, the daughter of Chronos and Sandran,

the bearer of the double code,

the keeper of hopes who do not yet know their name…

you are invited to the School of Bright Paths.

Not to get stronger.

And to understand: power is in choice.”

— Is this… a school?” “What is it?” she asked, turning to her parents.

Andrey smiled — the same smile with which he rushed to the child in 1978.

Inna looked at her daughter with eyes in which galaxies were mixed with simple earthly pride.

“This is not just a school, daughter,” said Andrey. — This is a place where they teach not to win… but to save. Even an enemy.

“They teach you to be a Super — Magician, a Soldier, a Kind-hearted and Affectionate Negotiator at the same time,” Inna added, and there was a slight irony in her voice. — In this universe, the strongest is not the one who knows how to kill… but the one who knows how to speak so that even the darkness listens.

2. ENTERING THE DIMENSION OF YOUTH.

The Source School was located in the Lotus Dimension, a space accessible only to those whose hearts had not yet been petrified by cynicism.

The entrance is through the Age Mirror.

• Teenagers (16—21 years old) — pass.

• Adults who are sure that they “already understand everything” hear only a whisper:

“You already know everything. And they’re still learning to believe.”

Alina took a step and found herself in a world where:

• the sky shimmered with sunrises and sunsets at the same time;

• The trees grew with their roots up, feeding on the dreams of the students;

• rivers did not flow with water, but with streams of knowledge and other people’s experience;

• The school building changed shape depending on what you are studying today.

An inscription made of living stars twinkled on the gate:

“They don’t make weapons here.

People who don’t need guns anymore are being made here.”

3. CURRICULUM: NOT JUST COMBAT

Alina quickly realized that this was not a superhero academy.

It is a garden of the soul, where every object is a path to understanding oneself and others.

Main disciplines:

• Chrono magic is not just moving through time, but the ability to hear its pulse.

“You don’t control time. You’re asking for it… until you save someone.”

• The martial arts of the universe — from hand-to-hand combat to the dance of Shaolin monks.

The main principle is: “Inflict a minimum of pain. Leave maximum dignity.”

• The art of reincarnation is not for deception, but to feel someone else’s pain.

“Become an enemy for a moment, and you’ll understand why he’s crying in the dark.”

• Invisibility is not for espionage, but for unobtrusive support.

“Sometimes the best help is not to interfere. Just to be around.”

• High Dialogue Courses (what were jokingly called “geisha of the universe”) are not about flirting, but about the art of conversation, which can:

o forces the enemy to lower his sword,

o reminds the tyrant of his childhood,

o forces the darkness to whisper: “Tell me more…”.

• Space policy and ethics of power — that saving worlds means hearing their pain, and not imposing your “salvation” on them.

• Super Mage, Kind — hearted Soldier, Affectionate Negotiator — the final comprehensive course, where:

o magic = empathy,

o strength = protection,

o words = bridges,

o victory = when no one remains the enemy.

4. THE FIRST LESSON: “WHY AREN’T YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?

““At the first lesson in chronoetics, the teacher is an elderly Mechanic with eyes glowing with soft lamps,” asked:

— Alina, you are the daughter of Chronos and Sandran. You can erase the Chrono Shadow with a single gesture. Why don’t you do it?

She froze.

“I think, — Alina said softly, — that she’s not an enemy. She’s me… if no one loved me. If I just destroy her, I will destroy a part of myself. And I don’t want to kill. I want to heal.

There was silence in the classroom. Even the wind had stopped rustling in the overturned trees.

The teacher smiled.

“You’ve already passed the first exam,” she said. — Welcome to the School of Bright Paths.

5. TRAINING IN THE “GARDEN OF SILENCE”.

One night, Alina was training in the Garden of Silence, a place where time slowed down tenfold.

She practiced moving to any point in the galaxy using only the rhythm of her own heart.

But instead of distant stars… I found myself in 1978, on Budennovsky Street.

Young Andrey was standing there at the construction site, looking at the darkness ahead.

“Do you… see me?” “What is it?” she whispered.

— No, — he replied without turning around. “But I feel… that someone believes in me.” And that’s enough.

Alina began to cry.

And for the first time, she truly realized that

her strength wasn’t in a unique code.

Her strength lies in faith.

Chapter 7. The seventh. THE PULSE OF TIME

“You don’t control time.

You’re asking him… as long as you save someone.”

1. THE FIRST LESSON: SILENCE TO THE PULSE.

Alina stood in the “Hall Without Time” — a circular space where the clock did not tick, the sand did not crumble, and breathing slowed down almost to a complete stop.

In front of her is the Master of Chronos, a gray — haired man in a cloak of shadows and stars. His eyes were empty, just like before the beginning of time.

— Do you think you came here to learn how to travel? “What is it?” he asked without turning around.

“No, — Alina replied. — I came to learn how to listen.

The master smiled for the first time in three hundred years.

“Then sit down.” “And shut up,” he said. “Not for a minute. Not for an hour. And until it speaks to you on its own.

Alina closed her eyes, sank to the floor of the frozen Sand of Time, and waited.

2. THE VOICE OF TIME

The hours passed. But not the days.

First — the emptiness.

Then — the noise in my head: fears, fragments of phrases, echoes of the Chrono-Shadow:

“You’re a mistake. You shouldn’t be here.”

Alina almost gave up.

But she remembered her father’s voice:

“Even a broken clock shows the correct time twice a day.”

And then she stopped listening to herself.

And I started listening to the world.

First, a distant thud. Like a heart.

Then the rhythm. Deeper than breathing. Wider than galaxies.

It was the pulse of time.

Not mechanical.

Not linear.

Alive.

He was singing. He was crying. He was laughing. He was screaming.

“That’s how you are… — she whispered. “You’re… alive.”

And at that moment, the Sand beneath her trembled.

3. THE FIRST MOVE: NOT INTO THE PAST, BUT INTO THE PAIN.

The Master of Chronos opened his eyes.

“You heard a pulse,” he said. — Now — ask for it.

— Ask for… what? — asked Alina, confused.

— Ask time to stop. But not for myself,” the Master replied. “For someone who’s not ready to die yet.”

He led her to the Hall of Broken Moments, a place where temporary wounds were kept.: the seconds when someone leaves too early, and time doesn’t have time to say goodbye.

Alina saw an image of a boy falling from a roof in Rostov. The year is 2007.

He’s screaming. But the scream is drowned out by the noise of the city.

“You can save him,” the Master said. “But not by force. You have to step in at his last second… and give him a chance.

Alina did not “jerk” around. She asked for it.

— Please… — she whispered against his pulse. “Give him another moment.” Let him feel loved. Let him know that he is not alone.

She stretched out her hand, not in space, but in rhythm.

And time slowed down.

Not before the bus stop. But so much so that the boy managed to see a boy with white hair and galaxy — like eyes standing on the balcony of a neighboring house… and smiling at him.

That was enough.

He didn’t snap. He grabbed the ledge.

Time passed on.

But a new branch branched off from it.

4. RULES OF CHRONOMAGIC

After the lesson, the Master called Alina to his place.

“You passed the test,” he said. — Now remember the three laws of chronomagic.

He held up three fingers.

1. You don’t manage time. You’re asking.

Time is not a servant. It’s a friend.

A friend does not obey orders. He responds to the request.

2. You don’t change the past. You’re healing him.

You can’t erase the pain. But you can give it a meaning.

You can’t bring back the deceased. But you can make him leave knowing that he was loved.

3. You don’t use knowledge for the sake of power. You’re using the force to save yourself.

Every jump is a duty. Every second is a responsibility.

If you use the chrono code for yourself… time will forget you.

Alina lowered her gaze.

“And if… I want to save her?” “What is it?” she asked faintly. “The Chrono Shadow?”

The master was silent for a long time.

“Then you’ll have to step into the darkest second of the universe,” he said softly, “and tell her.”: “I remember you. You are not a mistake. You are my pain. And I forgive you.”

— And if she doesn’t believe it?” Alina whispered.

“Then you will stay, — the Master replied. — Even if time stops. Even if the world forgets your name. Because real Chronomagic is not about moving. It’s about loyalty.

5. PRACTICE: A PULSE IN EVERY MOMENT.

In the following classes, Alina learned:

• to feel the pulse in every moment:

— in the laughter of a child — the rhythm of hope,

— in the tears of an old man — the echo of loss,

— in the beat of two hearts — the melody of the future;

• synchronize with someone else’s time code:

to save a person, you need to weave into his time like a thread into a cloth;

• create “time bubbles”:

not to escape,

but to give the wounded a moment of peace,

the mother a last “I love you”,

the hero a moment before choosing.

One day she asked:

— Is it possible… to stop time altogether?

The master looked at her sadly.

— Just once, — he replied. — When you’re ready to stop yourself. Forever. Give everyone else their “tomorrow”.

Alina realized that

this was a victim of Chronos.

Her father’s sacrifice.

Grandfather’s sacrifice.

The sacrifice of all who carry time within themselves.

6. EVENING IN THE “GARDEN OF PULSES”.

At night, Alina came to the “Garden of Pulses”, a place where trees grew out of frozen moments.

She sat under the tree that grew out of the second her father saved the child in 1978,

and listened.

In that silence, she heard the Chrono Shadow’s voice for the first time-not as a threat, but as a cry.

“You feel her too, don’t you?” The Master asked, emerging from the shadows.

— Yes, — Alina replied. — She’s… calling me.”

“Because you’re her last hope, — the Master nodded. “Not as an enemy. Like a sister.

Alina closed her eyes, put her palm on the rough trunk of a tree and whispered:

“I’m coming.” Wait for me. I’ll bring you… mom’s lullabies.

The branches of the tree rustled in response.

And somewhere in the cracked time… the Chrono-Shadow stopped shaking for the first time.

Chapter 8. The eighth. DANCE TO SAVE

“A true martial artist does not defeat the enemy.

He gives him back his self-confidence.”

1. A HALL WITHOUT SHADOWS

Alina entered the Shadowless Hall, a circular space where the walls were not made of stone, but of frozen movement.

Every figure on the walls is not a statue.

This is a captured moment of a battle in which no one fell, no one screamed, no one hated.

They didn’t teach you how to kill here.

They learned how to stop pain here.

“Welcome to the first Martial Arts lesson of the Universe,” said the teacher, coming out of the semi — darkness.

He was tall, powerfully built, with a simple, calm face without signs of rank.

The face is smooth, like the surface of a lake before the first wind.

“My name is Master Li Jiang,” he introduced himself. “I’m not a warrior. I am the mediator between anger and peace.

— And if the enemy does not want peace? Alina asked.

“Then your task is to make him remember what he wants, — the Master replied.

2. DOWNLOAD: NOT DATA — BUT EXPERIENCE.

The students did not master the technique for “years”.

They uploaded knowledge, but not as files to a computer.

In the center of the room was a Chrono, a Memory crystal grown from:

• Tears of the Shaolin monks,

• Songs of the Etherean warriors,

• and the ashes of the Pyrolia blacksmiths.

“Put your hand on the crystal,” Master Li said. — But remember: you are not just learning techniques. You accept understanding.

Alina touched the crystal.

Consciousness opened up like a flower in the rain.

She didn’t just “remember” — she survived:

• the hand — to-hand fight of street masters in 2084 — not for the sake of victory, but to protect the child from the gang. Each blow was aimed not at the face, but at the certainty: “You are not the owner of the street. You’re a lost boy who’s afraid of being weak.”;

• The dance of the Sand Wind warriors from the planet of the Sands, where fighting is a prayer and avoiding a blow is a bow to the universe;

• The Shaolin monks’ martial dance is not for destruction, but for awakening. Their punches don’t break bones — they talk to illusions.: “You’re not mad at me. Are you angry that you weren’t heard as a child?”;

• The art of silent resistance by Ferronia’s Mechanicals — one glance is enough to stop an army: steel, having seen a soul, cannot strike.

Alina pulled her hand away, trembling but beaming.

— I… know everything,” she whispered. — But not as a movement. Like the truth.

“Exactly, — Master Li nodded. — You didn’t become a martial artist. You’ve become a guardian of dignity.

3. THE FIRST BATTLE: NOT AGAINST — CLOSE.

At the next lesson, the students were divided into pairs.

Alina got Kieron — the son of a warrior from Daemonium, who ran away from his father in order not to become an executioner.

His movements were sharp, jerky, full of anger.

He didn’t fight to win, but to prove that he was dangerous.

“You can’t do this, — he hissed. — You’re the girl with the galaxy eyes. What do you know about pain?

— I know it doesn’t make you stronger, — Alina replied. “She makes you lonely.”

The battle has begun.

Kieron attacked like a storm: punches, throws, grapples — everything was aimed at humiliation.

But Alina didn’t hit back.

She started dancing.

Not by leaving cowardly, but by accepting, redirecting, sliding past so that his power would shatter not against her body, but against the void.

When Kieron grabbed her by the throat, she didn’t pull away.

She put her hand on his chest, where his heart was pounding, and whispered:

“You’re not mad at me. You’re angry at your father, who told you that kindness is weakness.

Kieron froze.

And for the first time in many years… he began to cry.

There was silence in the hall.

— Is this… a victory?” “What is it?” he asked, lowering his arms.

“No, — Alina smiled. — It’s a homecoming.

Master Li came closer.

“You didn’t hurt him.” You didn’t knock him to the floor. “You haven’t proved your superiority,” he said. “You left him dignity.”

— And that,’ he added, ‘is the whole point of the Aeternian martial art.

4. THE PRINCIPLE OF THREE LEVELS.

Later, over a cup of herbal tea, Master Li explained:

— Martial arts develop on three levels.

He raised his finger.

1. The body is a technique.

Hit, block, leave.

Every soldier knows that.

The second finger.

2. Intelligence is a tactic.

Foresight, adaptation, control of space.

Every strategist knows this.

The third finger.

3. The soul is empathy.

Understanding why the enemy is hitting.

Only those who see themselves as lost in the enemy know this.

“The real master works at the third level,” said Master Li. “He doesn’t break the body. He heals the cause of fear.

— And if the enemy is a Chrono Shadow? Alina asked. “She’s not human. She’s a pain.

“Even more so, — the Master replied. — Because the pain awaits the one who says the most.: “I’m here. You’re not alone.”

5. NIGHT TRAINING: SHADOW DANCE

Alina practiced alone at night.

In the “Shadowless Hall,” she activated the projection of the Chrono Shadow-not as a target, but as a dance partner.

She didn’t attack.

She invited me.

— Go, — Alina whispered. “Show me your pain.” I’m not afraid.

The shadow hesitated.

Sometimes she rushed forward like an animal.

Sometimes she froze, like a child afraid of being touched.

One day, Alina reached out and took the Shadow by the palm.

And they danced.

Don’t be afraid.

Not a fight.

A dialogue without words.

At that moment, Alina understood:

Chrono-Shadow doesn’t want to destroy the world.

She wants someone to finally… hug her.

THE END OF THE CHAPTER.

In the next lesson, Master Li asked:

— Who is ready to take the test?

Alina raised her hand.

— Do you know what awaits you? — He clarified.

— Yes, — she replied. “She’s waiting for me.” And I won’t fight her. I will dance with her… until she remembers that she was once a child.

Master Li smiled.

“Then you’ve already passed the test,” he said. — Because a real warrior is someone who knows how not to hit… but to be close.

Chapter 9. The Ninth. A DEFEAT THAT TEACHES

“The real strength is not in not falling.

It’s about falling down and hearing the earth whisper…

and realizing that it hasn’t betrayed you.

She was just waiting for you to learn how to listen.”

1. THE TEST OF FAITH

Alina has been studying at the School of Bright Paths for three months now.

She knew all the basic forms of Shaolin styles.

She could disappear into thin air like an exhalation.

She was able to stop a punch from a distance without touching the opponent.

But Master Li Jiang still wouldn’t let her go on real missions.

“You can move,” he said. — But you don’t feel fear. A fight is not a dance for the audience. Combat is a dialogue with pain. And you still haven’t learned how to listen to someone else’s pain… without hiding your own.

Alina said nothing. There’s resentment in my chest.

“Why does everyone believe in me as a hope… but not as a warrior”?

That night, she made a decision.

2. THE SHADOW AT THE GATE.

At the edge of the Lotus Dimension, a crack appeared where reality was thinning.

The Shadow of Fate crawled out of her — not just a monster, but a reflection of the fallen Chronos from one of the alternate lines.

She didn’t scream.

She was calling:

— Alina… You know you’re not welcome here. You’re a mistake. Your world was erased because it was weak. And you… you’re just a shadow. The shadow of a shadow.

Alina froze.

Those words weren’t a threat.

These were her own fears, clothed in flesh.

But she came out to meet me anyway.

“I’m not afraid of you,” she said, taking up a Shaolin-style stance. — I came to show that even a shadow can choose light.

The shadow smiled and attacked.

3. THE FIGHT THAT DID NOT BECOME A VICTORY.

Alina threw everything she had learned into the fight.:

• Wind Dance — escapes from blows, light as a leaf in a hurricane;

• Fist of the Heart — blows aimed not at the body, but at pain;

• Embrace of Silence — attempts to stop the enemy without destroying.

But the Shadow of Fate was not human.

She was a void clothed in memory.

Each of her blows is a question:

“Why do you exist at all”?

“Who loves you, even if your father chose another world”?

“Will you save them? Or will you just postpone the fall a little?

“Alina continued to move, the technique remained impeccable, but her soul was trembling.

And when she tried to apply the final technique, “Homecoming,” in which the opponent stops himself, remembering his childhood, the Shadow laughed.

“I don’t have a childhood, — she whispered. “I only have your fault.”

And she grabbed Alina by the throat, not with her hand, but with a memory:

the moment when Andrei erased her homeworld in order to save others.

Alina fell.

Not from physical pain. From a broken heart.

4. DEFEAT.

A shadow loomed over her.

“You are not a warrior,” she said. “You’re an echo. And the echo can’t beat the silence.

She didn’t finish it.

She’s gone.

She left Alina lying in the dust, in a torn suit, with her chrono code out.

When Master Li Jiang found her, she was crying — not ordinary tears, but the sand of time flowing out of her eyes.

“I lost, — she whispered. “I don’t deserve to be an Avatar.”

The master sat down next to him. He did not comfort or scold.

— Did you think that fighting is a way to prove your strength? “What is it?” he asked softly. — no. Combat is a mirror. And today, for the first time, you didn’t see him as an enemy. Myself.

“But I couldn’t do it,” Alina said.

“You survived, — the Master replied. — And this is already a victory for someone who is still learning to be human.

He helped her up.

— Tomorrow we will not start with punches. And with silence. Because before you stop someone else’s pain… you need to stop being afraid of your own.

5. A LESSON IN SILENCE

The next day, Alina did not go to the “Hall Without Shadows”.

She was sitting in the “Garden of Pulses”, among the trees that had grown out of frozen moments.

She didn’t practice.

She was listening.

I listened to the pulse of time.

I listened to the whisper of the Shadow of Fate — not as a threat, but as a cry.

She listened to her heart, not as a weakness, but as a compass.

And gradually I began to understand:

The Shadow of Fate did not want to destroy it.

She wanted Alina to hear:

“I want to go home too.”

THE END OF THE CHAPTER.

In the evening, Alina returned to Master Li.

“I’m ready to learn anew,” she said. “Not as a warrior. Like someone who’s afraid… but goes ahead anyway.

The Master nodded.

“Then you won’t start tomorrow with a punch,” he said. — And with a hug.

He smiled out of the corner of his mouth.

— In this universe, the strongest is not the one who defeats the enemy. And the one who doesn’t turn him into an enemy.

Somewhere in the depths of the Black Abyss, the Shadow of Fate froze.

And a tiny spark flashed in her empty eye sockets.

Not the light.

The hope of forgiveness.

Chapter 10. The tenth. BECOME A SHADOW TO BRING BACK THE LIGHT

“You’re not putting on someone else’s face.

You take off your clothes to see the world through the eyes of someone you’re afraid to understand.”

1. THE NEW CLASS IS THE HALL OF REFLECTIONS.

After being defeated by the Shadow of Fate, Alina stopped asking for strength.

She began to ask for understanding.

And the School responded.

The next morning, she was invited to the “Hall of Reflections” — a wallless space where the floor and ceiling were mirrors, and the air trembled with the echo of other people’s battles and lived lives.

There she was waiting for a new teacher.

He wasn’t standing. It shimmered — between the shapes.

Now he’s an old man with eyes full of ashes.

A moment later, a teenager with empty pockets and a heart overflowing with pain.

Then there was a warrior with a sword in his chest and a clean face without a drop of blood.

“My name is the Master of Faces,” he said. His voice sounded like crying, laughing, and praying at the same time. “I don’t teach you how to transform.” I teach you how to disappear into another person in order to come back… whole.

“And if I don’t want to come back?” Alina asked.

“Then you will find someone who has forgotten how to be himself, — the Master replied. “And maybe… you’ll be the mirror for him.”

2. THE FIRST RULE OF REINCARNATION.

“The art of transformation is not magic,” the Face Master began. You give up yourself for a while in order to feel someone else’s pain as your own.

He led her to the central mirror.

“There are no spells here,” he said. — There are no formulas. There are no genetic codes. There is only one question:

“Why do you want to become one?

“If the answer is “To win,” you stay near the surface.

If the answer is “To understand,” you enter from the inside.

“And if I’m afraid?” Alina whispered.

— So, you’re ready, — the Master smiled. — Fear is the door. Not a wall.

3. THE FIRST TEST: BECOME AN ENEMY.

The master touched the mirror, and the Shadow of Fate was reflected in it, the one that had recently defeated Alina.

— You lost to her because you saw her as a monster, — he said softly. — Become one today.

— But… how?” Alina swallowed.

“Just say, “I want to understand you,”” he replied. — And let yourself go.”

Alina took a deep breath, looked into the empty eyes of the reflection and said:

“I want to understand you.

The mirror shook and pulled her inside.

4. INSIDE THE SHADOW

The world has turned upside down.

Alina was no longer Alina.

She is the Shadow of Fate.

She felt:

• cold — not from the darkness, but from loneliness;

• hunger is not for food, but for the word: “You’re important”;

• the pain is not in the body, but in the memory: “My world was erased because it was considered weak”;

• Rage — not towards the universe, but towards oneself: “Why wasn’t I good enough to be saved”?

She saw her old world, the one that had disappeared.

A world where Andrey made a choice in favor of other lines.

A boy stands at the ruins of a house that once smelled of apple pie and laughter.

There’s a child’s drawing on the floor: “Daddy and me on the stars.”

The drawing is faded, which means no one has looked at it for a long time.

And at that moment, Alina realized that

the Shadow of Fate did not want to destroy her.

She wants to hear:

“You had a right to exist.”

Tears, black as ashes, flowed down Shadow’s cheeks.

And Alina cried with her.

5. RETURN.

She burst out of the mirror, trembling, crying, but already different.

“Did you… see her pain?” The Face Master asked.

— Yes, — Alina whispered. “She’s not the enemy. She’s me… if no one loved me.

“Then you passed the first test,” said the Master. “You haven’t defeated the Shadow. You found out her name.

“What’s her name?” Alina asked.

— Forgotten,” he replied.

6. THE SECOND TRIAL: TO BECOME SOMEONE YOU HATE.

In the next lesson, the Master showed a new reflection — Absolute Evil in the form of Knox.

“Now become one,” he said.

“But he’s destroying worlds!” Alina exclaimed.

“Do you really believe he’s doing this out of joy?” The Master asked softly. — no. He does this because he no longer believes in the possibility of healing.

Alina clenched her fists… and remembered her father’s words:

“Even a broken watch can show the correct time.”

She stepped into the mirror.

And she became a Knox soaked in Darkness.

She felt:

• The weight of the Iron Throne;

• shame for every erased fate;

• despair that even the tears have turned black;

and a tiny spark, the one that cries in the dark when everything is silent.

Alina wanted to shout, “I’m here! I remember you!”

But the darkness drowned out the voice.

And yet… the spark did not go out.

Because Knox still remembered the lullaby.

7. A LESSON IN EMPATHY

When Alina returned, she did not talk about techniques.

She only said:

“Now I know how to save him.”

— How?” the Face Master asked.

“Not with a sword, — she replied. “Not with magic. A lullaby. The one his mother sang to him. Because even in the darkest vessel, the memory of life remains.

The Master nodded.

“Then you’re ready for the final challenge,” he said.

“Like what?” Alina asked.

— To become yourself,” he replied. “And accept that you have a shadow in you, too.”

THE END OF THE CHAPTER.

Alina did not sleep that night.

She stood at the mirror in her room and looked at her reflection.

White hair. The eyes are galaxies. The face of a girl who is still learning to be a hero.

And behind her, her own shadow.

Not an enemy. Not a mistake.

A part of herself that fears that her existence is a pain to others.

Alina put her palm on the glass.

“I won’t reject you,” she whispered. “I’ll take your hand and we’ll walk towards the light together.”

The mirror seemed to smile.

Somewhere on Mekhanos-9, Knox raised his head.

Somewhere in the Black Abyss, the Shadow of Fate stopped trembling.

Somewhere in the Aeternian Chrono-Heart throbbed quietly, but more confidently.

And in this great empathy, fear has ceased to be an enemy —

it has become a door through which you can enter the light.

Chapter 11. The Eleventh. TORN INTO THE LIGHT

“She didn’t kill them.

She brought them back to where they had stopped suffering.

To the dust. To silence. For a restful sleep.”

1. ATTACK FROM DAEMONIUM

After training in the Hall of Reflections, Alina was returning to the dormitory of the School of Light Paths when the sky above the Lotus Dimension… sobbed.

It didn’t scream.

It wasn’t split by lightning.

It sobbed, like a child who has seen a nightmare.

Rays of Evil crept out of the cracks in reality — not just shadows, but clusters of the distorted will of Absolute Evil, sent from the planet Daemonium.

The army of the Underworld followed them.:

• Two-headed chrono-eating snakes, whose jaws tear not flesh, but timelines;

• Werewolves are jackals that feed on the fear of death;

• Giants made of flesh and screams, forged from erased destinies.

They didn’t scream.

They were silent.

And in that silence, it sounded:

“Goodness is an illusion. Give up.”

The students fled. The teachers raised their shields.

But Alina stayed.

“You are not enemies,” she whispered. — You are a pain that no one has heard.

2. FIGHTING WITHOUT WEAPONS

One of the giants raised his hand — not to strike, but to erase it from the memory of the world.

Alina did not dodge.

She closed her eyes and invoked the Art of Reincarnation.

Not to deceive.

Not to hide.

But to understand.

She became a giant.

And I felt:

• hunger is not for the flesh, but for recognition;

• Rage — not towards the world, but towards oneself: “Why was I created a monster”? ;

• shame — for every crushed fate;

And a tiny spark, a memory that he had once been a man before he was turned into a tool.

Alina opened her eyes.

“You don’t want to kill,” she said softly. “You want it to be over.”

The giant froze.

3. BREAKING INTO MOLECULES IS AN ACT OF MERCY.

Alina raised her hand.

Not in the attack. In prayer.

“I’m sorry, — she whispered. “I can’t give you the house back.” But I can give you peace of mind.

And activated the double chrono-code.

Not as a weapon.

As the key to healing.

Her body shone with white light, intertwined with the sand of time and the reflection of the mother galaxies in her eyes.

A pulse of purity shot out from her palms.

He didn’t blow up the giant.

He disassembled it into molecules — not into dirty dust, but into its original elements:

• flesh into water;

• Scream — into the silence;

• pain — into oblivion;

• soul — to freedom.

The giant is not “dead.”

He disappeared like a bad dream at dawn.

4. THE REST

Then others.

She became one with the two-headed chrono — eating snake for a moment, and felt two heads arguing:

one eager to destroy time,

the other eager to bring her mother back.

Alina bound their will into a single impulse and released them into the world. The snake disintegrated into a sparkle that crumbled into star crumbs.

With the werewolf jackal, she also got into the point.

Behind the ugly face, there was a shepherd who was betrayed.

The darkness raised a monster in him because no one said: “I believe you.”

Alina sang him a lullaby, not with her voice, but with her heart.

His body crumbled into soft ashes.

And my eyes closed, not from death, but from finding peace.

She did not fight the Rays of Evil.

She embraced them with open, tearful compassion.

And at that moment, the Rays began to cry — black tears that, falling to the ground, sprouted small flowers of forgiveness.

5. AFTER THE FIGHT

When everything was quiet, Alina stood in the middle of the courtyard, trembling, with ashes and sparkles of light on her palms.

The Master approached her.

“You’ve broken them into molecules,” he said. — But not out of anger. Out of charity.

“They didn’t want to be monsters, — Alina whispered. — They were made like that. Like a Chrono Shadow… like Nox…

“Exactly, — the Master nodded. “That’s why you didn’t kill them.” You freed them.

He put his hand on her shoulder.

— Today, for the first time, you used the Art of Reincarnation not only for the sake of understanding… but for the sake of saving all of us.

“And if… I was wrong?” “What is it?” she asked softly. — And you had no right to decide who to give peace to?

— You didn’t decide for them, — the Master answered gently. “You asked.” And they responded with silence.

6. NEWS FROM MEKHANOS-9

At that moment, the heavens trembled again.

The ship of all time, the “Heart of Tomorrow” of the Avatars of Light, broke into the Lotus Dimension not through a portal, but through a desperate scream.

Andrey, Inna, and Alexey went down to the boarding platform.

— Alina! Andrey called out. — Knox… he’s calling you!”

“What happened?” “What is it?” she asked.

“Absolute Evil started the birth in the First World,” Inna said. “It uses Knox’s body as a vessel… to be born in 1978, at the moment when you should be born.

“But… I wasn’t even born then!” Alina exclaimed.

“Exactly, — Alexey said. “If the Darkness enters at that moment… you won’t be there. Never.

Alina looked down at her hands, still warm from the ashes and the light.

“Then I’ll go there,” she said. “Not as a warrior. Like a daughter who remembers her father.

The master smiled with sadness and pride.

“You’re ready,” he said. — Everything you learned was not only about the ability to feel the pain of an enemy… but also about the ability to give him forgiveness.

THE END OF THE CHAPTER.

At the edge of the Lotus Dimension, the “Heart of Tomorrow” was waiting.

Alina raised her head and saw the stars crying with light.

Somewhere on Mekhanos-9, Knox looks up from the darkness.

Sometime in 1978, little Andrey runs to the child under the tap.

Somewhere in the Black Abyss, Absolute Evil is smiling — preparing to be born into the human world.

But Alina knew that

even if you weren’t there yet, you could still come.

Because hope doesn’t wait for permission.

She just stands up and takes my hand.

— Let’s go, — Alina said. “Saving my first breath.”

Chapter 12. The Twelfth. THREE SCHOOLS, ONE LIGHT

“The real power is not in being visible.

It’s about seeing.

Not to speak loudly,

but to hear the whispers of darkness.

Not to rule,

but to listen, even when the world is screaming.”

1. INVISIBILITY: THE ART OF BEING CLOSE.

Alina stood in the “Hall of Silence”, where even the echo was afraid to whisper.

In front of her is a Shadow master, a Creature without a face: just a silhouette woven from the dust of forgotten moments.

— Do you think invisibility is the ability to hide? “What is it?” he asked, and the voice came from everywhere at once, not from his mouth.

“No, — Alina replied. — This is the ability not to disturb.

“That’s right, — the Master nodded. “You’re not a spy. You’re a witness. Sometimes the best help is not to interfere. Just to be around.

He took her to the “Garden of Observation” — a place where every tree was someone’s pain, every flower was someone’s hope.

“Today you will become invisible… not to the eyes,” he said. — For fear.

Alina closed her eyes, activated the chrono code, and disappeared.

She didn’t disappear.

And it became a part of the world.

She was standing next to a boy crying in a hospital room. He couldn’t see her, but he could feel her.: “I’m not alone.”

She was next to the girl, ready to step off the tower. Alina did not scream, did not grab his hand. She was just there, like a warm wind on the edge of a precipice. And the girl stopped.

“You didn’t save them, — the Shadow master said.

“I gave them a chance to save themselves, — Alina replied.

“Then you passed the test,” he said. — The real invisibility is trust.

2. PROFESSIONAL “GEISHA” COURSES: A WORD AS A BRIDGE.

In the Palace of Dialogue, where the walls were woven from the voices of the past, Alina sat on a pillow of light opposite the Mistress of Words, a woman whose voice could calm the storm and wake a sleeping star.

“A geisha is not a seductress,” said the Craftswoman. — She is the architect of the world through conversation.

The lesson began with silence.

Then there was one question:

“Tell me about your last happy day.”

Alina replied. There was no power in her voice. There was honesty.

— Now imagine that you have a Chrono Shadow in front of you, — the Craftswoman said softly. “What do you think of her?”

Alina did not threaten. She didn’t beg. She asked:

— Did you… have a happy day?”

There was silence in the hall. Even the walls were silent.

“That’s it, — the Wordsmith smiled. “You haven’t defeated the enemy. You’ve given him back the right to remember.

Later, in a practical lesson, Alina was confronted with a summoned Shadow of Fate, one of those that came from Daemonium.

The shadow raised his sword.

Alina did not move.

— Do you remember the smell of bread from childhood? “What is it?” she asked softly. “What your grandmother baked… when the world didn’t know war yet?

“The shadow wavered. The sword fell from her hands.

A spark flashed in the empty eye sockets.

“Tell me more,” she whispered.

— Absolutely, — Alina replied. “When you’re ready to listen… and not be afraid.”

3. SPACE POLICY AND ETHICS OF GOVERNMENT: LISTENING MEANS SAVING.

In the Temple of Balance, where thrones were carved from frozen destinies, Alina studied with the Council of Sandrans, ancient rulers whose decisions were born not of power, but of sympathy.

“Saving the world does not mean imposing the ‘right’ path on it,” said the oldest Sandran. “It means hearing his pain… and reaching out, not the law.”

Alina studied:

• diplomacy without words — the language of gestures, glances and pauses;

The ethics of limitation — when to step in and when to let the world find its own light;

• the politics of the heart — how to manage not by orders, but by trust.

One day, she was assigned to resolve a conflict between two planets:

Ferronia wanted to “free” Melody from “deceptive songs,”

and Melody accused Ferronia of “dead mechanics.”

Alina did not pass sentence.

She made a Feast of Dialogue.:

• Mechanics repaired musical instruments;

The Etherians sang lullabies for the machines.

That evening Ferronia and Melody heard each other for the first time.

“You haven’t suppressed the conflict,” said the eldest Sandran. — You have created a space for the world.

“Peace is not imposed, — Alina replied. — It is being grown.

4. “THE SWORD OF TOMORROW” IS A WEAPON OF LIGHT.

That night, after three lessons, Alina returned to her room.

On the table was the “Sword of Tomorrow”, given to her by Vladimir the Great Kindhearted on Pyrolysis.

He wasn’t just lying there.

He was throbbing like a heart.

“Did you call me?” Alina whispered.

The sword flashed with a soft light.

A voice rang out in her mind — not Vladimir, not Ziggy, but the Chrono-Heart itself.:

“I’m not a weapon. I am your Faith, embodied in the steel and sand of time.

I’ll burn myself in the hands of others… because they don’t carry a double code.

But in your hands… I can stop Absolute Evil.

Without killing him. And by reminding me that it was also once a child.

Alina took the sword.

It was warm, like a father’s embrace. Like a mother’s look.

She went to the mirror and saw in the reflection not a warrior.

Bridge.

“I won’t strike,” she said softly. — I will return it.

At that moment, the sword disappeared.

He didn’t fall. It didn’t crumble.

It ended up in her bottomless purse, a magical artifact given by the Wordsmith.

“He’s always with me now, — Alina smiled. “Even when it’s not in my hands.”

5. THE FIRST YEAR IS THE FIRST STEP.

At the end of her first year of study, Alina stood at the edge of the Lotus Dimension.

Behind her back are three schools, three teachers, three truths:

• invisibility — to see;

• The word is to heal;

• The power is to listen.

There’s a Sword in my purse tomorrow.

There is a transparent chrono code in the chest.

There are galaxies and faith in my eyes.

Somewhere in the Black Abyss, Knox was whispering:

“She’s coming.” And this time… She won’t just save me. She’ll remember me.

Alina closed her eyes.

And she whispered:

“I’m ready.” Not as a warrior. Like a daughter who remembers everyone she was… and who she will become.

Chapter 13. The thirteenth. THE LAST DISCIPLE OF DAEMONIUM

“He wasn’t looking for friends. He was afraid that his pain would infect others.

But she came… and said, “Let her infect. I’m not afraid.”

1. ALONE IN THE CROWD

Kieron lived outside the dorm.

Not on a whim. By decision of the Teachers’ Council.

He was the first Daemonium student accepted into the School of the Light Ways. His father is the commander of the Army of Darkness, the lord of the six worlds, who killed thousands, including those whose names are now sung in the Temple of Remembrance of the Aeternes.

Kieron ran away at the age of thirteen. Not for the sake of heroism. But because he refused to be a sword.

He came to the gates of the School empty-handed and with a heart full of fear.

There is a scar on his chest from his father’s oath: “The blood of the Demonium knows no mercy.”

There is a mute question in his eyes: “Can I be different?

“The school accepted him. Teachers, too.

The students are not.

He ate alone.

I practiced at night.

He never took off his black cape with a hood, not out of pride, but so that his gaze would not frighten anyone.

He was seventeen. He’s been studying for a year now. But the knowledge didn’t “stick.”

Not because he was stupid.

But because every time he tried to open his mind, his father’s voice rose up inside:

“Weakness is betrayal. Kindness is a lie.

You’re a weapon. Nothing else.”

2. ALINA SEES NOT A SHADOW, BUT A BOY.

Alina noticed him on the very first day.

Not in training.

Not at the lecture.

At night, in the “Garden of Pulses”.

He was standing under a tree that had grown out of the second his father had first hit him for taking pity on a wounded bird.

Kieron wasn’t crying.

He was holding a handful of ashes in his hands, the remains of a letter his father had burned for his “soft — heartedness.”

Alina didn’t come close. She just sat on the other side of the bench. She took out a notebook and started writing something down.

“Aren’t you afraid of me?” “What is it?” he asked without looking at her.

“I’m afraid, — she answered honestly. — But not you.” I’m afraid you hate yourself.

He shuddered slightly.

“Why are you here?” “I’m sorry,” he said.

“Because you’re the last one who doesn’t know he’s worthy of the light yet, — Alina said.

He left without saying another word.

But he came back the next night.

And he sat down on the same bench.

And so began their silent friendship.

3. EVENING IN THE HOUSE OF SILENCE.

Two weeks later, Alina decided to take a step further.

She found out where he lived: The House of Silence, a small house on the outskirts of the school, where the walls soaked up the screams and the floor remembered the tears.

In the evening, she came there with a basket of fresh apples from the Garden of Forgotten Smiles and a scroll on chronomagic. She knocked.

Kieron opened the door, wearing a plain shirt. His face was ordinary, almost pretty, but tense. The eyes are dark, but not empty. There was a fire burning in them that was afraid to ignite.

“What do you want?” — he asked.

— To talk, — Alina replied. — Or just sit. You choose.

He was silent for a long time, then stepped aside to let her in.

The house was almost empty.

No furniture, no decorations. Just a mattress, an old carpet, and a mirror covered with a dark cloth.

“Don’t you look in the mirror?” Alina asked.

“I don’t want to see his face in mine,” Kieron said.

“Then I’ll tell you what I see,” Alina said, sitting down on the floor. “I see a boy who hid an injured puppy under his cloak while his father was looking for him. I see a young man who has memorized his mother’s lullaby so that it does not disappear from his memory. I see a warrior who refused to kill, even when he was promised pain for it.

Kieron lowered his head.

“That doesn’t make me good,” he said dully.

“No, — Alina nodded. “It makes you human.” And this is much more difficult than being “good” or “bad.”

4. A LESSON WITHOUT WORDS

She didn’t teach him chronomagic.

She did not explain the subtleties of fighting styles.

She just stayed.

They sat in silence for a long time. Then Alina took an apple, cut it in half and handed him one piece.

“My grandfather said: “If you share bread, you share fate,” she said softly. “I’m not asking for your fate. But I want you to know that you are not alone.

Kieron took the half.

And for the first time in a year… he smiled.

Not widely. But for real.

— Why… did you come to me?” — he asked.

— Because I know what it feels like to feel like a mistake in the eyes of the world, — Alina replied. “But I also know something else.”: I am not a mistake. And you’re not a weapon. You are a choice.

At that moment, something clicked in the house.

The mirror under the cloth tinkled softly.

Kieron came over and hesitantly took off the blanket.

It wasn’t his father he saw in the reflection.

Myself.

A young man with tired but lively eyes.

With eyes in which hope has not yet burned out.

5. A NEW STUDENT

The next day, for the first time, Kieron came to class without a hood.

The students froze.

Someone looked away, someone tensed.

Alina just walked up to him and stood next to him.

How they stand next to each other.

Master Li Jiang saw this and smiled gently.

“We’re not going to start with strikes today,” he said. — And with trust.

And for the first time in a year, Kieron began to really learn.

Not as a weapon.

Like a man who’s looking for a way home.

THE END OF THE CHAPTER.

In the evening, Alina and Kieron were sitting in the “Pulse Garden” again.

“You shouldn’t have come to me, — he said softly. “I could… hurt you.”

“You won’t, — Alina replied. — Because now you have a friend who believes in you more than you do yourself.

Kieron raised his head to the sky, where the stars were softly singing Elyra’s song.

— And if one day…, Am I going to snap? — he asked.

“Then I’ll remind you,” Alina said, “that even a Shadow has a right to dawn.

Somewhere in the Black Abyss, Absolute Evil thought for a moment:

another fire hadn’t gone out.

And on Aeternov, the Chrono-Heart was quietly pulsating —

in the rhythm of two hearts that chose friendship instead of fear.

Chapter 14. The Fourteenth. A BLOW WITHOUT ANGER

“He didn’t strike to destroy.

He hit out to say,

“I won’t let the pain overwrite me anymore… not even for my own sake.””

1. ATTACK FROM THE SHADOW OF FATE.

It happened in the “Garden of Pulses” — at a time when the stars are silent, and time itself breathes quieter than usual.

Alina trained alone, practicing the Dance of Silent Salvation, a technique in which every step is like a prayer and every movement is like a peace offering.

It took her a moment to notice the Shadow of Fate creeping out of the crack in reality. But not the one who cries and asks to come home. This one was forged from Kieron’s pain.

She took the form of his father: tall, in armor of bones and oaths, with a voice that cut the soul like a knife.

“You betrayed Daemonium, son, — the Shadow hissed. “You chose a weakness. And now… die like a traitor.

But it wasn’t Kyron she was attacking.

To Alina.

Because she had everything he had already come to love: trust. House. The right to light.

2. KIERON: BETWEEN SHAME AND CHOICE.

Kieron watched from behind the trees.

He didn’t want to interfere. He was afraid that if he fought with his father’s image, an old demon would awaken in him — the one he had been running from all his life.

But when the Shadow reached out to Alina to erase her from the memory of the world, fear ceased to matter.

Kieron jumped.

Not with a scream.

Not with a roar of battle.

And with a low moan, as if the soul was breaking out of chains.

He stood between Alina and the Shadow.

“Go away, — he whispered. “She’s not your victim.

“And you?” The Shadow asked mockingly in his father’s voice. “Are you still my son?” Or is it already their toy?

Kieron was trembling.

Not out of fear.

Out of shame.

He could feel Alina’s gaze — without horror, without condemnation… only with faith.

And at that moment, he realized that

if he struck out of anger, he would become his father.

If he strikes out of fear, he will become another shadow.

But if he strikes out of pity — even for himself — he will become human for the first time.

3. THE FIGHT THAT WASN’T A FIGHT.

He did not apply the graceful forms of Shaolin.

I didn’t remember the dance of the Sand Wind.

He remembered Master Li Jiang’s words,

“A true master does not defeat the enemy.

He gives him back his self-confidence.”

Kieron took a step forward, not in attack, but in recognition.

“You’re right,” he said to the Shadow. “I am the son of Daemonium. I carried the darkness inside me. I was afraid that one day she would break out and destroy everyone I care about.

He lowered his arms.

“But today… I’m not protecting her from you.” He took a deep breath. “I’m protecting you from what you’ve become.”

And then he applied the Art of Reincarnation — not for a moment, but to the full depth of his pain.

He became a Shadow.

And I felt:

• her rage is like the cry of a child thrown into a fire;

• Her hatred is like a desperate fear of being unloved;

Her thirst for destruction is like an attempt to somehow shout over the emptiness.

He understood.

And at that moment, his own body lit up from the inside — not with blinding light, but with honesty.

He struck once.

Not in the face.

Not in the heart.

And exactly into the very void inside the Shadow that I just saw.

There was no anger in that blow.

There was pity there — for himself, for his father, for a world in which pain had been turned into a weapon.

The shadow screamed, not from pain.

From recognition.

“Do you… remember me?” She whispered no longer in the voice of a general, but in the voice of a boy from Daemonium, whom no one had ever hugged.

— Yes, — Kieron replied softly. “I remember you.” Because you are me, and I… am no longer afraid of you.

The shadow crumbled.

Not to ashes.

And in the sand of time, which gently fell to the ground and sprouted a small white flower of forgiveness.

4. AFTER THE FIGHT

Aline walked over to Kieron.

Not with delight. Not with pathos.

With a simple, warm question,

“Are you okay?”

Kieron stared at his hands. They were trembling, not with rage. From liberation.

“For the first time in my life… yes, — he whispered.

He bent down and picked up a flower — white, with petals that looked like frozen tears.

“I thought I was going to be a weapon forever,” he said. “But today… I became a shield.

“No, — Alina corrected him gently. “You’ve become a bridge. Between who you were… and who you can be.

5. THE TEACHER IS IN THE SHADOWS.

Master Li Jiang came out from behind the trees.

He silently assessed the field, the pulse of the Garden, and Kieron’s eyes — no longer as dark as before.

“You haven’t defeated the Shadow,” he said. “You accepted her. And this is the highest form of martial art.

“I was afraid that if I hit him, I’d become like him, — Kieron confessed.

“But you didn’t hit against the pain, — the Master replied. “You hit for her.” So that she finally hears: even in you there is a place for light.

He put his hand on Kieron’s shoulder.

“Now you’re ready for the next lesson.”

“Like what?” — He was surprised.

— To teach others, — the Master smiled. — Only someone who has healed his darkness can help another person find their way home.

THE END OF THE CHAPTER.

That night, for the first time, Kieron did not hide his face under a hood among others.

He was sitting next to Alina by the window, looking at the stars, which were singing again.

— Thank you, — he said softly.

“For what?” she asked.

“For believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself.”

Alina smiled.

“I didn’t just believe in you, — she replied. “I believed in us. Because kindness is not a feat of a loner. It’s a choice we make together.

Somewhere in the Black Abyss, Knox felt: another soul refused to be a prey to Darkness.

And on Aeternov, the Chrono-Heart pulsed softly —

in the rhythm of two hearts that changed each other not as saviors… but as friends.

Chapter 15. The fifteenth. THE NAME THAT BROUGHT BACK THE LIGHT

“You are not the son of Daemonium.

You are the one who chose the light,

even when the darkness called him home.”

1. AFTER A FIGHT, THERE IS A QUIET MOMENT.

The fight with the Shadow of Fate is over.

The flower of forgiveness bloomed in the “Garden of Pulses”.

Kieron stood, still trembling, with ashes in his palms.

A tear rolled down his cheek, transparent, not black, and he didn’t even notice it.

Alina approached him.

Not like a heroine.

Not like the daughter of Chronos and Sandran.

As a friend.

— You… protected me, — she said softly. “Not out of debt. Not out of fear. But because he didn’t want the pain to happen again.

Kieron lowered his eyes.

“I was afraid that if I hit him, I’d become like him,” he whispered. — But you… you looked at me like I was already the person I always wanted to be.”

“You were, — Alina smiled. “You just forgot your name.”

She paused, as if she was going to do something important. Then she said softly but firmly,

“From now on, I’ll call you Sergei.”

And your middle name is Sergey Fearless.

Kieron flinched.

— But… that’s not my name,” he said, confused.

“No, — Alina shook her head. “It’s your essence. You are not Kieron — the son of the warlord of Daemonium. You are Sergei the Fearless, the one who stood between darkness and light… and chose someone else instead of yourself.

2. THE POWER OF THE NAME.

At that moment, something more than just the sound changed.

It’s not just him.

In the universe.

The Chrono-Heart beat faster on the Aeternum.

On Ferronia, one of the Mechanics suddenly remembered his mother’s forgotten name.

A new note was born on the Melody — The Note of the Name of Light.

And in the Black Abyss, Knox raised his head — and for the first time in seven circles of time, he barely smiled.

A name is not just a sound.

A name is an oath, a confession, and the right to be.

And when Alina gave Kyron the name Sergei the Fearless, she didn’t just “come up with a nickname.” She gave him back the right to a future.

— Why exactly… Sergey? “What is it?” he asked, his voice trembling.

Alina looked away for a moment, somewhere far away, into her own world.

“In my world, in the line where I was born, there was a man named Sergei,” she said. — He was just a teacher. The usual one. Without titles. But one day he got between an angry crowd and a child who wanted to be punished for his “otherness.”

She smiled, remembering.

“He didn’t scream. He didn’t beat me. He just said, “If you touch him, you will touch me.” And he left with the child by the hand.

She looked Sergei straight in the eye again.:

“You did the same thing.” You said to the darkness, “If you touch her, you’ll touch me.” So, you’re Sergei the Fearless. Not by blood. By choice.

3. RECOGNITION OF FRIENDSHIP

The next day, the Bright Paths School learned that “Kyron” was no longer going out to practice.

Now his name is Sergey Fearless. —

Alina’s friend,

Defender of the Light without a sword,

The son is not of Daemonium, but of Trust.

The students stopped making way for him when he appeared.

The teachers began to address him by his first name.

Even the mirrors in the House of Silence no longer reflected the stern face of the commander — a young man with tired, but no longer empty eyes looked into them.

In the evening, Sergey sat with Alina on the roof of the dormitory, looking at the stars, which were singing again.

— Thank you, — he said softly. “You didn’t just give me a name. You gave me back my face.

“No, — Alina shook her head. “You brought him back yourself.” I just… reminded you that you have it.

She held out her hand to him.

He took her — not as a lover, not as a subordinate, but as a friend who knows that someone is there who sees you completely.

4. AN ECHO IN THE UNIVERSE.

Somewhere on Mekhanos-9, Knox heard a whisper:

“Sergei the Fearless…”

He went to the Mirror of the Destroyed Time — and for the first time saw in it not only his distorted reflection.

He saw the light in the other’s eyes.

“She’s already saving… — whispered Knox. Hearts.

And at that moment, the Darkness inside him trembled.

Because evil is not afraid of swords.

It is afraid of names

spoken with love.

Chapter 16. The Sixteenth. THE HOUSE THAT THE HEART CHOOSES

“Your home is not where you were born.

And where they’re not afraid of you…

even knowing where you came from.”

1. THE LAST BELL IN THE LOTUS DIMENSION.

The school year at the Bright Paths School was coming to an end.

On the square in front of the Temple of Balance, students packed their belongings into bottomless bags, gave each other seeds of hope from the “Garden of Pulses”, exchanged hugs and vows to return.

But Sergei the Fearless stood aside.

He didn’t pack anything.

I didn’t write any letters.

He didn’t even look at the portal leading to Daemonium.

“You’re not going home?” Alina asked, coming up to him with a basket of fresh apples from the Garden of Forgotten Smiles.

“I don’t have a home, — he replied softly. “There’s only a throne made of bones and a voice that calls me a ‘traitor.”

“Then come with me,” Alina said without even thinking. “To my parents.”

She smiled,

“They’ve… missed you already.”

And I think it will be very interesting for them to get to know someone who protected me, even when he was afraid of his own reflection.

Sergei looked at her, not with hope, but with cautious trust.

— They… won’t be afraid?” “What is it?” he asked dully. “Knowing who my father is?”

“They’re only afraid of one thing, — Alina replied. — That the good will remain alone.

And you’ve already proved that you’re not darkness.

You are a choice.

2. RETURN TO EARTH

Alina took Sergei by the hand, activated the double chrono-code, and the space around them swirled with a whirlwind of light and sand of time.

A moment later, Rostov-on-Don.

The year is 2025.

Summer.

Evening.

A courtyard with acacia trees, warm asphalt and the smell of fresh bread from the nearest bakery.

On the balcony, Andrey Chronosynthez is repairing an old grandfather clock.

Inna Sandran is sitting in an armchair: a book in her hands, but her gaze is fixed on the sky, as if she is waiting for someone.

And then — a soft flash.

Alina flies out of the portal towards them like a ray.

— Mom! Dad!

Inna jumps up and hugs her daughter, as if she is afraid that she will disappear into time again.

Andrey is smiling — the same smile with which he once rushed to the child in 1978.

“For a whole year…” he whispers. “You’ve grown up.

“I’ve learned not only how to hit,” Alina smiles, “but also how to listen.

And only then does she turn around.

“And this is Sergey Fearless,” she says. “My friend.” And… my shield.

Sergei stands with his eyes downcast.

He does not bow, does not rush to say “hello.”